


Sleep

by Demenior, neinlives



Series: Cuddle House [2]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, cuddlefest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2013-05-18
Packaged: 2017-12-12 04:51:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/807461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demenior/pseuds/Demenior, https://archiveofourown.org/users/neinlives/pseuds/neinlives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first anniversary in the new house of that final battle, when Jake wakes up in a cold sweat to a warm hand on his arm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the actual Cuddle House and all thanks to the amazing Neinlives.

It's the first anniversary in the new house of that final battle, the one where they all almost lost Rachel and Jake almost lost himself, when Jake wakes up in a cold sweat to a warm hand on his arm. He jolts upright, trying to shake off sleep and the last vestiges of whatever nightmare it was this time, and finds his best friend at his elbow. "Marco?" 

Marco shrugs, but his normal half-smile is missing, his eyes solemn and dark in the moonlight. "Couldn't sleep," he says simply. "Feels too..." His voice trails off, and he jerks his chin towards Jake's bed, uncharacteristically shy. "Could I...?"

"Yeah." Jake answers before he can think about it, shifting over and lifting the quilt. Marco climbs in beside him, and Jake closes his eyes again as Marco's arms slide around him, his breath a familiar tickle on the back of his neck. Jake lets out a long sigh, snuggling back into the warmth of Marco's arms, and he realises he's shivering. He hadn't noticed before. 

"You 'kay?" Marco mumbles, his lips pressing up against the edge of Jakes jaw for a second. 

"Mmm," Jake hums in affirmation, and he realises, for the first anniversary in years, that he is. 

At least sort of.

The second set of feet wakes him at the door, and Jake cracks open his eyes to find to find trembling shoulders and mussed blond hair hovering in the light of his open door. He doesn't even have to ask this time, just kicks the blanket out of the way and opens his arms, and Rachel crawls onto the bed and plasters herself against his side with a hiccup.

She calms down after a minute or so and regains her composure, and, in true Rachel fashion, twists herself more securely into her cousin's while at the same time threatening darkly, "Not a _word_ , Jacob." 

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jake says back, hiding a smile in her hair as he tucks her under his chin. He threads his hands around her ribcage so he can feel her heartbeat slow against his hands, and when she twines her fingers into his, Jake merely squeezes them back. Marco slides his arm back around Jake, tucking his hand between Rachel's hip and his, and Jake feels Rachel's hum of contentment as a rumble through his chest.

The next time Jake wakes up is when Tobias comes in, and he's surprised to find Rachel separated from him, her limbs tangled with Cassie's. They both look fragile in sleep despite the formidable warriors Jake knows them to be. Jake's not surprised that Cassie managed to sneak in without waking him up - of all the bed mates he's had since they moved into this house, his body is the most used to Cassie - but he is surprised by the peace on his cousin's face. For too long, he's been used to only seeing fury and zeal carved onto those beautiful feature. Cassie's glowing gentleness looks good on his cousin. 

Tobias doesn't bother to speak. He's morphed into his human morph, and Jake feels the bed dip as he crawls into the space Rachel left. Jake twists in Marco's arms so he can look up as Tobias kneels over them, but still the younger boy doesn't speak. He bends down instead, and Jake holds still as Tobias presses his lips to Jake's in a slow, searing kiss that says everything Tobias didn't need to say. Jake's eyes are closed by the time he comes up for air, and when he opens them Tobias is already off the bed and morphing back into a hawk. Surprisingly, he flutters to the headboard instead of leaving, and Jake hears him shake his feathers into position and settle. Somehow, it still feels intimate.

Tobias doesn't like to sleep in his human morph, and then, not even in the same room as anything his instincts feel is a threat, and he's close enough that when Jake reaches his hand up, he can run his fingers through the soft feathers of Tobias's breast. Tobias preens his chin against Jake's fingers, and when Jake drops his hand again, the door opens to reveal Ax. 

Like Tobias, Ax morphs human to crawl onto the bed. "Prince Jake," he whispers. "I did not mean to wake you." He presses a chaste kiss to Jake's forehead, his andelite affection so un-human-like and - because of that - so much more significant. "I merely meant to inform you that I will take watch over you tonight."

"What...?" Jake can feel that Marco is already awake, so he struggles up onto an elbow. "Ax, you don't have to do that."

"But I do want to," Ax says with a soft smile, carding a hand through Jake's hair. "Sleep well, Prince Jake." 

"Ax," Jake protests weakly as the andelite crawls off the bed and begins demorphing. "C'mon, you'll be uncomfortable in here. I'll be fine alone." 

Marco snorts, his arm pulling Jake back in with a muttered, "C'mere, idiot," and Jake can hear the smile in the andelite's voice. {Of course, Prince Jake. All the same.}

Rachel rolls over and snuggles up against his front, Cassie shifting to curl against her back, and Jake realises he's woken up all of his friends now. "You are so incredibly dense sometimes," Rachel says in exasperation. "Now go to sleep, will you?" 

{Two more hours and he breaks his record,} Tobias adds from the headboard. {I think you're going to owe me money, Rachel.}

"Shut up, you," Rachel huffs back from where she's buried her face in Jake's tshirt, and when Jake looks up in confusion he finds Cassie's warm eyes on him.

"You haven't slept more than three hours since the beginning of the month, Jake." She raises one eyebrow. "You thought we wouldn't notice?" 

Jake is surprised that his friends - who, he realises, haven't left him by himself for a night in more than a month now - noticed his restlessness.

He relaxes into the bed again. "You all came to help me sleep?" he asks softly.

"No, you dummy," Marco mumbles into the back of his neck, his arms tightening. "We came to help _you_." Jake gets another kiss on his jawline, and then Marco thunks his head into the back of his skull gently. "Now please shut up and sleep."

His friends settle again, Rachel's hands reaching around him to find Marco and Cassie's fingers tangling with his, and Jake closes his eyes.

The sun is far overhead before any of them wake.


End file.
